#should have just ended it when Elain went back through the wall tbh

[separatist-apologist]

Ohhh I thought you meant like writing wise not plot wise hmmmmm yeah that’s kind of hard but like maybeeeeeee idk maybe somehow since lucien is technically a high lords son Elain falling in love with him breaks the curse ??? Or tamlin just loses his shit once they’re under the mountain and just kills amarantha or lucien follows Elain through the wall and just leaves all of prythian to figure it out on its own (bc god know lucien and Elain deserve peace) or somehow feyre finds Elain and kills amarantha like in the book those are some ideas ig

Also if you don’t want to continue the fic that’s fine too if you don’t feel something don’t feel pressured to finish it besides if it’s archived and smth inspires you later on you could always come back to it either way we will love the writing you’ve put out already

I feel like we're not talking about the same fic. That's okay! This is about Cruel Summer, which has 4 chapters and just needs an ending. There is no more curse-Feyre already broke it in 4 and now they're just hanging out in the middle of a war, waiting for someone to stab Hybern in the throat.

They just need to reunite and I have to tie up my loose ends

[moiraineswife]

Musing Of The Day: ACOTAR would have functioned so much better as a duology. 

I know that there’s a not-small portion of this fandom that just kind of :) isn’t it good these books ended at acomaf :) But like...I genuinely, genuinely think that would have been better? I think that almost the entire story/driving force of ACOWAR was...totally unnecessary tbh. Feyre (and Rhys, I suppose) could have had her story tied up beautifully in two concise, well-written books. I could MAYBE stretch to an ACOWAR that had wildly, wildly different content to tie up any loose ends but...This thing should have ended at ACOMAF. 

This series functioned at its best when it was purely about Feyre. And functioned at its worse when it went beyond her, and the entire narrative just swallowed her character, and her soul. 

I didn’t care about Hybern. I didn’t care about the war. I didn’t care about the wall. I didn’t care about...Literally any of the driving forces in ACOWAR. It got too big too quickly and it tried to become something it wasn’t. It tried to take a story about an ordinary girl’s struggle to save herself and her family and twisted it into the story of an ordinary girl’s struggle to save...the entire world and everyone in it. Which is just...Too big. 

The stakes were too high, and yet they weren’t, because I genuinely didn’t care. Hybern was a paper-thin villain, the war was so poorly cobbled together (and lasted like...two minutes??), the politics were non-existent, the world-building was...even more non-existent, the plot was Bland af. I didn’t care about any of it. And I think that’s a huge reason that ACOWAR fell flat, because there was nothing to care about any more. 

ACOTAR was Feyre’s struggle to save her family, save the ones she loved. Her family, and then the man she fell in love with. It did end in a struggle with her against a Big Bad in the form of Amarantha. (who was also pretty paper-thin tbh) But that worked because at its core, the narrative revolved around Feyre. It was a singular narrative told through her eyes, and even though she did do the whole ‘saving all of Prythian thing’ that wasn’t the driving force, it wasn’t what the narrative asked me to care about. It asked me to care about Feyre. Her family, her goals, her loves. And I did. 

ACOMAF was Feyre’s struggle to save herself. She has crippling depression, PTSD, and is in a twisted, abusive relationship. Again it has a very narrow focus, it has a very limited scope, and there’s plot things that go on around it related to the whole Hybern/war scenario but, honestly? That was all there to drive the characters, to drive Feyre, and to drive Rhys. And that’s the only reason it worked. Because the characters are what we were invested in by that point, not the fairly woeful plot, so you kind of overlook that weakness because the heart of the novel is there and it’s enough. 

You care about Feyre, the Circle, Rhys, Nesta, Elain, Lucien, etc, etc. It’s a very, very narrow focus. And I’m sure I sound like a hypocrite rn because I’m sure I whined about this and how narrow that focus was, and how I wanted the world to broaden but...I take it back. That’s not what I wanted at all. Past!Lauren was a goodamn liar. The narrow focus was the only thing that made this series work. 

Because as soon as we hit ACOWAR, and the stakes changed, and the focus changed, and that narrow tunnel-vision we’d had for two books suddenly erupted into full-scale ‘got to save the world you know nothing about and really aren’t at all invested in’ it got......Bad. 

Because ACOWAR was the complete opposite of ACOMAF in the worst possible way. It was a reversal of the driving force and the things that are being used to fulfil that goal. In ACOMAF it was Feyre, her darkness, her recovery, her story, and the plot kind of existed here and there to nudge that along. In ACOWAR the Plot suddenly takes centre stage and Feyre gets shunted off to one side and suddenly I’m asked to care about this huge war, and this whole end of the world and I just...don’t. 

Especially because Feyre got...Completely and utterly lost. She went from a focal point, the heart of these books, the thing everything revolved around and that a reader was in any way shape or form attached to....To a camera. She existed to show us what was happening in this big, bad world we didn’t give a toss about. That was it. There was no individual goal, there was no focus, there was no purpose.  

I think if this series had done what it set out to do, and didn’t try and force itself to become something it wasn’t, it would have had a lot more success. Either as a duology with some slight tweaks here and there to the narrative that allows it to fully end Feyre’s story in ACOMAF. Or, aye, okay, go ahead and make it a trilogy but not with a war. Not with a desperate bid to save the world. Because it’s boring. 

Because I’ve read variations of it a hundred times before and I’m never actually interested in reading them again. I don’t care if this world ends. I care more about Lucien stubbing his big toe than I do about this war in ACOWAR. I’m here for the charaters and they all got either fucked over, written OOC, written so badly it was painfully boring (I’m looking at u Rhys), or completely swallowed by what was supposed to be their story. 

Not every series has to escalate to ‘protagonist saves the whole entire world aren’t they great?’ to be a story worth telling. 

ACOWAR could have continued Feyre’s recovery, it could have actually told the stories of various other survivors (Rhys/Mor/Lucien etc) and given them the development and the dignity that they deserved. 

It could have showed Feyre’s struggles with being High Lady and integrating into this culture that she really doesn’t know a huge deal about, and the challenges that come with that. It could have been a novel about rebuilding after Amarantha. Introduce the other courts that way, by having them come together for Prythian as a whole to recover and rebuild and let that link with and resonate with Feyre’s recovery arc in ACOMAF.

It could have been so much more than what it was. Because what it was was a complete and utter disaster. But it’s a disaster that had potential, and it wouldn’t have taken much for it to fulfil that but NO instead I got ACOWAR. Just...Leave me in my salt pit to wither and DIE in indignation.   

[the-suriel-deserved-better]

Thoughts while reading Acowar.

Mind the swearing and spoilers kids. -2 years before the wall? Wait is this like a baby bat Rhys POV? -oh God this field isn't a nice place. Kinda like it tho. - omfg 6 High Fae... 6, to defeat one Illyrian... damn. - Rhys is so protective if his brothers it's killing me. -AGH PART ONE HERE I FUCKING COME. -Yes Feyre, burn this shit. -Already thinking about that wingspan Feyre? Can't blame ya. - Ugh Tamlin no can you not enter this moment just yet. Ugh Lucian I'm fucking watching you. -Oh for Fuck sake I gotta read about Ianthe soon to? -ugh I just want some smut and it's only page nine. -Feyre you can roll your eyes. God knows I am. - Oh hey Ianthe, go Fuck yourself Ianthe. -You definitely revived something from Rhys hands Feyre, but it was far more pleasurable than torture. -Lucian I won't ship you and Elaine. But please, for the love of God, kill Ianthe. -Oh hell fucking ni, Jurian, go fucking Fuck yourself and stay the Fuck away. -Oh snap, Nesta and Elaine already so powerful they can drain the cauldron. -Oh snap, Feyre laying down these facts. Also that's how I spell Miryaim's name. -Feyre you savage. -Jurian, talk about Elaine like that again and I will kill you. -Oh Fuck off Ianthe, I've read enough of you. -Okay Lucian, my heart is softening towards you. -God I missed you Alis. -Damn summer solstice is giving me goosebumps. -Rhys you are giving me life. -Uh Oh, Tamlin's getting jealous of friendship. -YOU FUCKING BURNED THEIR WINGS. -Ahhh Feyre you also cringing about Elaine being fucked by a fire blooded male?? Let me introduce to Azriel. He's far better in my opinion. -All these painting titles... we're they like, working title for Acowar. -Rhysand you get that tongue to work. -Also Tam you prick. -TAMLIN YOU MOTHERFUCKING PRICK HOW WOULD YOU LIKE A WHIPPING. -God Alis, my bae. -Feyre slit her throat. -Yes Feyre Fuck this bitch up. -Oh these twins. Can you fucking not. - Go Lucian Go. -Bring on Part Two. -"He can get in line," Feyre getting a list of people who wanna kill her to rivals Aelins. -Oh for Fuck sake, everything was going so well, until Lucian's brothers showed up. -OMG CASSIAN YOU'RE BACK. -AZRIEL MY CUPCAKE. -"There's no such thing as a High Lady," bitch excuse me. -Cassian you melt my stone cold heart. -Mor my darling. -OMG IT'S HAPPENING, RHYS IS COMING. -Amren, boo. Hru? -Lucian being called a girl, I'm dying -AGH RHYS. -"Go find somewhere else to be," I know what that means. -The smut was worth it. -Oh I missed the banter of my baby bats. -And Rhys' swearing begins. -Cassian sunning his wings. I wonder if a certain Nesta sees. -Cassian trying to be chill around Nesta is my new aesthetic. -Nesta reads romance. Hell Yes. -"You come between a male and his mate, Nesta Archeron, and you're going to learn about the consequences the hard way." Trying to foreshadow something there Cassian? I Ship. -No is mentioning the sorrow and longing in Cassian eyes, Feyre, for the same reason no one mentioned it when Rhys looked at you all those months ago. -Reading about Elaine is painful. -I'm relating to Elaine and all those open curtains too much... shit. -Cassian you're to precious. -I missed the Amren/Cassian banter so much. -Shit Mor is getting pissed. -Feyre keeps calling Rhys mate and I'm feeling bad for the Australian readers. -"Because I can't stay away" well Fuck me if they ain't mates. -Nesta looking as Cassian like he's the only one in the room. -Damn right there was a reason Lucian wore a fox mask. -Idk what to write but the nessian at pg.203. gahhhhhhh. -"Surely Nesta wasn't anything he couldn't handle," omfg Feyre, it's hilarious of you to think that. -Feyre were you not there for Acomaf. He was very clearly, cocky then. -Library sex? I'm in. -oh, so no library sex. -To the Bone Carver we go. RIP. -Oh so, the Carver, and the Wearer are- I'd be shocked only I read that spoiler. -Oh so the Carver is a mirror type of perosn? What even is a mirror person? Is it his kink? -Oh Nesta having death powers. -Feyre constantly calling Rhys mate tho. -Tbh all I wanna know is who or what the carver appeared to Cassian. -Everyone in this book be complementing Rhys good taste. -Ah Az and Elaine be starting. Az be carrying his ship. -Poor Cassian. Nesta will come around, I promise, I read the spoiler. -YES AZRIEL SHOW HER THE GARDEN. I'VE READ THIS SPOILER PAGE SO MUCH AND NOW IT'S MINE. -You know, I wrote a fanfiction about Az and Elaine in a garden and her calling his scars pretty. They kissed in it. -"Azriel isn't the ravishing type," Rhys you should read the fanfic I wrote about him. He loves to ravish. -omg Cassian calming Nesta- ugh how many more pages until this kiss? -Az, sunning your wings for Elaine? How scandalous. -"Why not make them mates?" Feyre babe I'm asking the same question. -FEYRE YOU SHIP ELRIEL TOO? Oh sweetie I love you more than Cassian rn. -Rhysand, let Feyre play matchmaker. -I was about to bash Kier for insulting Az, but Az got this shit. -Oh not this fucking Eris bitch again. -Rhys the Fuck you playing at? -Okay, ngl I know Mor is gay but those Eris know? Ffs. -Okay everyone is fighting and I'm more intrigued than I should be. -D'as Nessian. -Double d'aw Elriel. -Pg.303 and back to sassy Az. -Sassy Az KS giving me life. -It was at page 306 that I realised I was in love with Az. -Nephelle's be giving me goosebumps. -Yes bathtub scent with Rhys. -Oh it's actually a massage scene? I'm in. -Feyre are you trying to start a war? Cassian flying with Nesta. Dammit who am I kidding I wanna see that. -Yes Az, help Elaine in the garden. I am sailing this ship. -Nesta watching Cassian lick his fingers and I'm like, now imagine that kissing elsewhere. -Nes? I ship. -Some shit happening in the library. -ohhhh so we finally reached the part where people wonder if Elaine is a seer. -Yes Feyre, put Elaine's riddles together. -Okay that scene was intense but Nessian at the end was calming. -"Amren on the hunt," a novel by sjm. -Damn Az, took you awhile but bravo, she's a seer. God it couldn't be any easier to love you. -Lucian I swear to God if you die, looking for this sixth queen, I will kill you. -Also where is my Suriel. -Shit Alis don't die. -oh FFS, look, "king" of Hybren, old buddy. If you'd kindly fuck off. Only it's late, I don't need these plot twists. -Look, "King," I'd pay good money to see you try and take Feyre. -Rhys if you could destroy my upcoming exams the way you did those ships, I'd be grateful. -pg.379, more smut, hell yes. -pg.381, Nesta all concerned. -The amount of sex feysand are having. That wingspan must be truly impress you Feyre darling. -So Cassian is terrible at complements. -Ah yes boys, bringing up that wingspan again. -This Nessian tho. -"she threatened to freeze my balls off," Kallias, Viviane, welcome to my heart. -I'm in love with Viviane. -God sake, Tamlin Fuck off. -Tamlin, let me tell you, Rhys and Feyre have fucked so much I'm sure he could recount every noise she is capable of making. -Fucking shut up Tamlin. -Eris if you'd kindly shut the Fuck up too, it'd be a pleasure. -Pg.438, Nesta, damn, *blows kisses.* -nvm of 439, Go Feyre. Slay. -Helion.... wait... look I can't go around loving all these people. It makes me look like I have a heart. -You know I'd be surprised at Lucian being a whole, some air of dawn court, but I already read that spoiler. -Okay mor is gay why is- you know what, never mind, I give up. -Oh. Oh Fuck. -lol, I'm so tired, whenever I hear the wall mentioned all I can think of is humpty dumpty. -"Don't even start," Nesta, sweetie, we've been shipping this since the last book. -Part three here I come. -btw this is still the same day for me. I've read up to part three in a few hours. It's two in the morning. Never underestimate a fangirl deprived of her smut. -Jurian just has to show up, doesn't he. -idk who I am to believe anymore. -I wanna say Fuck this shit I'm out. But I am so in. -So am I meant to trust Jurian or not. -Damn Tarquin. -Nessian will kill me quicker than these plot twists. -Ayyy more shut, god I love you Sarah. -Yes, the Suriel is coming into play bitches. I'd been surprised by what happens only I've seen this spoiler too. -Okay first thing first, Ianthe please Fuck off Secondly rip Suriel 2K17. -Cassian what happened. Nesta please. I know the ending and shit but tf happened. -Feyre be joining up these dots about which way Mor floats. -This, Varian, Amren thing, yeah I'd like another five books of it. -Awww, Az, you're to sweet and selfless. -I'm so tired IDK how to feel anymore. -Oh greatttt, Feyre got hit with an arrow. Any more plot twists. -Wait Tamlin? Fuck, ugh. -d'aw, Elaine kissed his cheek. -it's four in the morning. I have less than one hundred pages left. -Shit. -Fucking hell Elaine stab them bastard. -Also Nessian hell yes. -Also...wait what's happening. -Rhysand you fucking bastard it's five in the morning don't do this to me. I know you live god dammit don't fucking do this. -oh thank fuck that's all settled. -This book. These plot twists. These ships. It's all so heart wrenching and shit. -Wait is she flying over Velaris in her lingerie. -Fuck it's half five in the morning. I read this book in under 24 hours. I need to sleep. *hours later* -omfg I need to read this shit again. It was so good. The High Lords, the banter, the near death experiences. The romance. The sass. Sarah you queen. -if the at least the novellas don't have nessian or Elriel tho I may be tempted to cry. And that, my friends, is a snippet of the roller coaster if thoughts and emotions I went through. I was too tired to cry during it but my heart was successfully ripped out a few times.